The Next Generation
by Hermione Sparkle
Summary: Albus Potter is ready to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But so is Zack Bulstrode, son of Millicent Bulstrode and grandson of Voldemort. Taught to hate the Potters, meeting Albus will motivate Zack to create a plan to kill him. Will the plan succeed or fail? MAJOR Spoilers for OotP,H-BP, & DH. Please do not read if you have not read the whole Harry Potter series.
1. Making a new friend

**Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction, so please go easy on it. I do not own anything except my own story and OCs. Please leave a review!**

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Chapter 1

Making a new friend

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His dad's face disappeared from view. Albus was a little nervous, but he knew James would laugh at Albus if he showed it. Therefore, he didn't say he was nervous but instead made his look one of excitement, turned to his brother, and said, "I'm so excited!"

"You should be, Al," James replied. "Listen, I'm going to see my friends. Don't do anything that'll embarrass me. Be cool, introduce yourself as James Potter's little brother, and you'll have lots of friends." With those words he left.

_Gods, can he be less annoying?_ Albus thought. He was fed up with his brother always thinking he was better than Albus. _Who was named after two headmasters of Hogwarts? _Me_! So _why_ in the _world_ does James think he's better than me?_

He quickly went off to find some people to hang out with.

_Hmm, Rose wouldn't be too_- His thoughts were interrupted when someone ran into him. He tripped and went sprawling on the train floor. A _thud_ told him the person he ran into had fallen too.

"Watch where you're going!" a voice yelled at Albus. He instantly felt ashamed.

"Sorry," he said in a small voice, sitting up. He looked down at the person he bumped into. It was a boy with short black hair. He sat up, and Albus could see his eyes were dark brown, almost black. He was wearing his Hogwarts robes, and they didn't have a House patch on them. _A first year! _Albus thought.

"My name is Albus," Albus said. "Albus Potter. Want to be friends?"

At Albus' name, the boy's face became shocked. Then he said, "Sure. I'm Zack Bulstrode."

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**Read and review, please! I'll try to update as soon as possible so check back in a few days for the next chapter!**


	2. His mother's life and the plan

**Author's Note: I do not own anything except my own story and OCs. Please review as it is very helpful to know my story is being read. This chapter is from Zack's point of view.**

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Chapter 2

His mother's life and the plan

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_Albus Potter?_ Zack thought. His mum had told him all about the Dark Lord and his death by the famous Harry Potter. She was too young to be a Death Eater when he died, but it had always been her wish to join her father. Yes, father, because the Dark Lord had adopted her. He thought she would be perfect in case something happened to him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the son of The Boy Who Lived, because Zack was sure that was who he was.

"Do you want to hang out together?" Albus asked.

"Once we get to Hogwarts. My compartment is full," Zack lied.

"Okay," Albus said and scampered off. _Fool,_ Zack thought as he trotted to his own compartment. Zack continued thinking as he ran.

His mother had no interest in murder, so Voldemort had sent her off to Hogwarts; sure she'd end up as a disgrace in Goody-Two Shoes Gryffindor. He was surprised, therefore, to find that she got into Slytherin. Joy was a feeling he rarely had, but that time, his mum told him, the Dark Lord was nothing but joy, and he told her who he really was. He was taking on a teacher's body, his mum had explained.

Zack got to an empty compartment and slid inside, locking the door behind him and pulling the blinds down. He knew his mission without even sending a letter to his mum. He had to kill this Albus Potter. Once The Boy Who Lived found out, he'd come rushing to Hogwarts and Zack would kill him too. Zack knew that was what his mum would tell him to do.

He took out a piece of parchment and wrote,

_Dear Mum,_

_You didn't tell me that Potter had a son, but no matter. I have found him and have a plan to kill him. Send back letter with the three Unforgivable Curses. _

_Love, _

_Zack_

He rolled up the letter and whistled. Instantly, a black owl appeared and flew alongside Zack's window. He opened it. "Hello, Rex," he said. The owl hooted back. Zack tied the letter to the owl's claw, and then said, "Fly to Mother." In a flash, Rex was gone.

Zack sat back, calculating his plan. He took out another piece of parchment, and then waved his wand at the window. It banged closed. Zack exchanged his wand for his quill and wrote down his plan.

_Create destruction in one of the rooms in the dungeons so it can be declared off-limits._

_Find out what Potter's son likes._

_Lure Potter's son to off-limits room._

_Torture to get him to send owl to father._

_Kill him before father comes, then hide._

_When father comes, kill him too._

A tap on the window interrupted him. There he saw Rex who had gotten back extremely quickly. He opened the window and let his beloved owl in. He read the letter from his mum.

_Dear Zack,_

_The Unforgivable Curses are the Cruciatus Curse, the Imperius Curse, and the Killing Spell as you already know. Here are the spells:_

_Cruciatus Curse: Crucio_

_Imperius Curse: Imperio_

_Killing Spell: Avada Kedavra_

_Love, _

_Mum_

Perfect, Zack thought. He revised his plan.

_Create destruction in empty room in the dungeons to make off-limits._

_Find out what Potter's son likes._

_Lure him to off-limits room._

_Use _Crucio_ to get him to send an owl to father with plea for help. Use_ Imperio_ if necessary. _

_Use _Avada Kedavra_ to kill son, then hide._

_Wait for father to come, use _Avada Kedavra_ again._

Yes, Zack thought. A good plan.

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**I made this chapter extra long because the first chapter was so short. I'll try my best to make all my chapters longer than the first. **

**Please leave a review!**


	3. Not believed

**Author's note: Sorry for the long wait, but school starts soon so I was preoccupied with getting supplies. Then, my computer had to be repaired because it was broken. Now, I finally got a chance to write. Also, it's back to school for me in two days, so updates will be less often. Don't worry, though, I'm planning to go with this story to the very end, so I won't quit writing it. Let's get on with the chapter!**

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Chapter 3

Not believed

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Albus hurried to get to Rose and tell her about his new friend. He didn't even wonder why Zack's face was so full of shock at his name. All Albus knew was that he was excited to have another friend, besides Rose.

Panting heavily, he reached her compartment and knocked on the door. Rose emerged from her compartment. "Oh, hey Albus," she said. "What's up?"

"I made a new friend," Albus said proudly. "Zack Bulstrode."

"Bulstrode?" Rose asked in a nervous tone.

"Yeah," Albus said uncertainly. "Why does that name concern you?"

"Well," Rose began. "Mum told me all about her time at Hogwarts. Well, most of it anyway. In her second year, there was a dueling club. A girl named Millicent Bulstrode was supposed to be her partner and well, let's just say, Mum hates her since that day."

"Why?" Albus asked curiously.

"If you must know, Millicent Bulstrode held my mum in a headlock until your dad saved her. It seems that Millicent hated my mum even before. I'm going to guess that's because Mum was a Muggle-born and Millicent was a Slytherin. Pureblood, no doubt. I'm guessing that since there's someone our age with the name of Bulstrode, he's probably her son and also probably hates me since I'm the daughter of not just a regular Muggle-born, but I'm the daughter of Hermione Granger, who all Slytherins hate because she was best friends with Harry Potter, the boy who killed You Know Who. This, of course, means that all Slytherins hate him as well. Don't you see, Albus? Any Slytherin would love to kill my mum or your dad but since our parents are far away at home, we're probably the targets of all Slytherins! And since I'm positive this Zack Bulstrode is none other than the son of Millicent Bulstrode, he would love to kill both of us more than any other Slytherin would!" Her voice had risen to a shout, desperate that Albus would both understand and believe her.

Instead Albus looked at her and said coldly, "You just want me to hang out with you instead of Zack, don't you?"

"No, Albus, I -"

"Forget it," Albus said and stalked off.

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**Please leave a review so I'll know your thoughts on the story! If you have any questions, you can PM or leave a review with your question so I can PM you the answer.**


	4. The plan discovered

**Author's Note: I made an extra-long chapter to make up for the long wait. School's prevented me from adding anything sooner. But since Hogwarts isn't the average every day annoying school, let's get back on the Hogwarts Express to take a trip, once more, to our favorite school.**

**Oh, and this chapter is from Rose's point of view.**

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Chapter 4

The plan discovered

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Rose stood in shock as Albus walked away. As he was her cousin, they always believed each other, helped each other, and_ never_ lied to each other. Now he thought she had violated that unspoken rule, while he unknowingly hurt her feelings.

Rose walked back into the compartment as if in a trance. She was happy no one else was in the compartment. She closed the door, locked it, pulled down the blinds, fell to the floor, and sobbed.

She was upset, sure, but mostly she was disappointed in Albus for not believing her. Tears splashed onto the floor while her head was between her knees.

_But I can prove it_, she suddenly thought, and sat up quickly. Too quickly. Her head banged on the bottom of the seat and she saw stars. Her plan was immediately forgotten as she clutched her head, hoping it wasn't bleeding, hoping she'd manage to stay conscious.

A knock on the door made her sit up. She desperately hoped it was someone who wasn't a first- or second-year and knew how to do a healing spell.

She tried to stand up, but fell back down at the pain in her head. This time, her back hit the seat and new waves of pain overcame her. She slowly slid on the floor. It was the most she could do while staying conscious. Reaching up, her fingers felt for the lock. She turned it and pulled the door open. She saw a tall girl with brown hair, brown eyes, and a splash of freckles on her nose and cheeks. She was wearing Hogwarts school robes. Then, before Rose could ask for help, everything went black.

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Rose's eyes slowly opened. "How do you feel?" A voice immediately asked. "Back hurts," Rose answered, her vision slowly coming back. She saw a girl. She realized it was the girl she saw before she fainted.

"How about your head?" the girl asked.

Rose raised her hand and gingerly felt where she had hit her head. There was a bump, and it hurt a little when Rose touched it, but otherwise her head was fine.

"Better," she replied. Her fingers moved to her back as she felt it.

"Ouch!" she couldn't help but scream.

The girl gently pulled Rose's hand away from her back, and then yelled, "Conductor!"

The sound of footsteps reached Rose's ears. Then a man came into the compartment.

"Glad you decided to wake up, we're almost at Hogwarts." The man said, taking out a wand. "Katelyn here saw you faint. She called me, and I came and fixed your head. Your back, well, I gave you a potion, but by your screams I'll take it it's not working."

"You could say that again," Rose muttered as her back continued to throb.

"That's because the potion needs time to work." The man waved his wand and a clock appeared, floating in mid-air. Katelyn gasped. "I'll take it you're a Muggle-born?" the conductor asked. Katelyn shyly nodded. The conductor turned back to the clock. "The potion should start working… right… about…," the conductor said, watching the clock. "Now."

A sigh of relief escaped Rose. Her back had felt better exactly as the conductor said, "Now," and now Rose felt great. "Thank you," she gratefully thanked the conductor. "Glad I could help, but you should thank Katelyn. If she hadn't told me what happened as soon as you fainted, you'd still be unconscious, or otherwise, in great pain." Then he left.

Rose looked at Katelyn. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem. All I had to do was tell the conductor. He was the one who fixed you up. Anyway, what's your name?"

"Rose," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you. You should change into the school robes. Like the conductor said, we're nearly at Hogwarts."

Rose got up and walked over to her trunk. As she did, she asked, "Are you a first-year?"

"Yes, I am. And you?"

"Yeah, me too."

Rose pulled on her robes over her head. Then she sat down in anticipation. "I can't wait," she squealed.

The train pulled to a stop.

"No need to wait. We're already here," said Katelyn with a smile.

They got off the train and walked onto the platform. Rose saw a piece of paper on the ground. She picked it up and read it.

_Create destruction in empty room in the dungeons to make off-limits…_

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**Please leave a review so I'll know your thoughts on the chapter.**


	5. The castle

**Author's Note: The lack of reviews is a little disappointing. If some of you like this story, then please leave a review.**

**Again, I'm extremely sorry for the wait. With school, afterschool, homework, projects, and tests to study for, I find myself doing more and more work each day. But I love this story too much to let it go.**

**Disclaimer: I've been forgetting to put in my disclaimer so in case any of you have been thinking I'm J.K. Rowling, then you were wrong, which means I don't own Harry Potter.**

**IMPORTANT: Anything in bold (except the author's note) has been taken directly from the book.  
Also, this whole story will be in Rose's point of view from now on unless I write otherwise.  
I've also been changing the other chapters a little bit so if you want you can go back and look at them. You don't have to, though, it's nothing that will affect the story, just some minor changes to fix mistakes and stuff.**

**APOLIGIZATION: I apologize for the rambling author's note.**

**So, without any further ado, I present the fifth chapter!**

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Chapter 5

The castle

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Rose stared in shock at the paper in her hand. It was obvious to her that someone wished to kill Albus very much. And she was sure she knew exactly who that person was.

"Are you alright?" Katelyn asked with a worried look on her face.

"Huh, what? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she assured Katelyn, realizing she had been staring into space for the last five minutes.

Her thoughts, however, were reeling. _Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, this is bad, I was right. I can't believe that I'm thinking it's bad that I was right, but someone planning to kill Albus isn't just bad; this is HORRIBLE! He won't even believe me! How can I prove that I'm right? If I show Albus this paper, he'll think I just forged it!_

Rose had no idea what to do._ Stay calm,_ she told herself._ Stay calm._ _I just need to find something that Zack wrote with his name on it and then compare it with this. If it matches-which I'm sure it will-then I'll show Albus. Okay, stay calm._

"**Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"**

Rose could see** Hagrid's big hairy face **which was beaming **over the sea of heads. **Rose knew about Hagrid because her parents had told her about him.

"**C'mon, follow me-any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that **Rose** thought there must be thick trees there.** Her parents hadn't told her much so that her first time going to Hogwarts would be as exciting as possible. Though she knew many things about the inside of the castle, she knew nothing about the outside.** Nobody spoke much.**

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here." **

As they rounded the bend, **there was a loud "Oooooh!" **

**Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.** Rose looked at the magnificent castle and marveled at its beauty as she realized that it must have been repaired with magic after the war to regain it to this state.

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting by the shore. **Rose **and** Katelyn **were followed into their boat by **Albus** and **a boy with short black hair and eyes of such a dark brown they were almost black. Rose was sure this was Zack as she noticed he seemed reluctant to sit in the boat and only joined because Albus was calling him. Rose also noticed that Albus didn't seem excited to see her or have to sit next to her.

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then-FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

**Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. **

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

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**So this is my longest chapter even though it might be kind of short. I was planning on doing the sorting in this chapter too, but then realized that was going to take me forever, so since I didn't want to keep everybody waiting, I decided not to do the sorting in this chapter but save it for the next one.**

**Please review!**

**Next chapter: The sorting**


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